I am interrupting my criticism of Gavin Menzies to report that National Geographic Channel elected not to use the interview they recorded with me in their documentary The Secret History of UFOs, which they broadcasted (without my knowledge) on July 29. Instead, they presented the ancient astronaut theory as a conflict of personalities between Giorgio Tsoukalos and Kenneth Feder, the archaeologist. The producers stacked the deck to make Tsoukalos appear much more credible than he really is, and they did not directly challenge any of Tsoukalos' assertions. This is doubly strange considering that I was asked to record responses to the very issues Tsoukalos discussed.

I am greatly disappointed both by being left out of the program (and wasting an entire day flying out for the interview) and also by simplistic portrayal of the ancient astronaut theory. If they didn't demand that I sign a confidentiality agreement, I would have much to say about the way the producers' promises about the direction of their program went unfulfilled as well as about the way they apparently caved to specific demands made by Giorgio Tsoukalos in return for his appearance on the show.

I'm going to go be angry for a while. But at least I don't feel so bad about hating NatGeo's Chasing UFOs or their stupid Finding Atlantis documentary anymore.

It was 12 years ago, and, as I explained to him at the time, and to readers in print and on this blog--the tape broke! Back in the analog days, when your one and only copy of the tape breaks, that's pretty much the end of things. Yes, that means that I do not have a copy of it either. It vanished into the heaven of failed electronics.

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I'm an author and editor who has published on a range of topics, including archaeology, science, and horror fiction. There's more about me in the About Jason tab.